Gaseous cushion sustained vehicle and the like



031 10, 1967 J. H. BERTlN y 3,345,063

GASEOUS CUSHION SUSTAINED VEHICLE AND THE LIKE Original Filed Jan. 1l, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Inl/enfer Oct. 10, 1967 J. H. BERTIN GAsEous cUsHioN susTAINED VEHICLE AND THE LIKE original Filed Jan. l11, 1962 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 f. Pelt 'liv' @zum United States Patent O 3,346,063 GASEOUS CUSHIN SUSTAINED VEHICLE AND THE LIKE Jean H. Bertin, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, assignor to Societe Bertin & Cie, Paris, France, a company of France Original application Jan. 11, 1962, Ser. No. 165,634, now Patent No. 3,263,764, dated Ang. 2, 1966. Divided and this application Oct. 20, 1965, Ser. No. 498,295

Claims priority, application France, June 30, 1961, 866,604 (1st addition 80,047 to Patent 1,310,483) 11 Claims. (Cl. 180-7) ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE A 'vehicle of the ground effect type wherein a fluid under pressure is admitted into a plenum chamber defined by a bounding skirt means which is open at one end thereof whereby said fluid forms a -supporting cushion between the vehicle and a bearing surface over which the vehicle moves with the edge of said skirt means being spaced from said bearing surface, and including a second bounding skirt means surrounding the rst mentioned skirt means and defining a space therebetween whereby fluid leaking between the edge of the rst skirt means and the bearing surface flows into said space and thereby forms a second fluid cushion surrounding the Viirst fluid cushion.

This is a divisional application of my copending application Ser. No. 165,634 filed Jan. 11, 1962, now U.S. Patent No. 3,263,764.

The present invention relates to ground effect vehicles or like movable bodies sustained at a small distance from a ground, sea or other surface by means of compressed fluid cushions, in a known manner.

One of the objects of the present invention is to reduce to a minimum the unavoidable leakage of uid from said cushions and the compressed fluid consumption.

Another object of this invention is to provide fluidcushion devices which will permit the vehicle to negotiate obstacles without damage Iand without unduly increasing its height above the ground.

A further object of this invention is to provide fluidcushion devices offering a good resistance to wear and tear, and yet light and cheap.

In accordance with the present invention, the vehicle comprises a plurality of inne-r fluid-cushion bounding systems and a separate and distinct outer fluid-cushion bounding system extending along the periphery of the vehicle and around the former-mentioned systems. Thus the unavoidable leakages from the inner cushions fare used for feeding the peripheral or enveloping cushion whose leakage length is reduced compared with the total leakage length of the individual inner cushions.

In ya preferred embodiment of the present invention, the Huid-cushion bounding systems are formed by skirts made of fluid-tight, Wear Vand tear resisting material which is supple and adapted to be tensioned by internal overpressure.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will appear in the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE'I is a diagrammatic elevation view, partly in section, of a ground effect vehicle.

FIGURE 2 is a corresponding front elevation view.

FIGURES 3 and 4 illustrate, in vertical section, two alternative arrangements in accordance with the present invention.

FIGURES 5 and 6 are respectively a side elevation and la plan view of a preferred embodiment.

FIGURE 7 shows a modified form of skirt.

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FIGURE 8 illustrates in side elevation a vehicle equipped with such skirts.

Referring now to FIGURES 1 and 2, there is shown thereon a platform 1 with four gaseous cushions, each supplied by three ejectors 3, the inductive nozzles 4 of which branch off the discharge duct of a compressed gas generator 5, for instance ya gas-turbine engine.

Each of said gaseous cushions is of the plenum chamber type and confined with a skirt 2 made of supple material and mounted on a supporting frame 7 gimballed by means-of two horizontally opposed pivots 8 and supported by two horizontally opposed pivots 10 solid with the platform 1 and set at right angles to the axis of the pivots 8. The pivots 10 are preferably xed to the walls of a flotation tank 21 disposed inside each cushion.

The upper portion of each skirt 2 provides an oscillation joint, an example ibeing bellows joint 11, whereby the skirt is able to move freely in all directions and full tightness with minimum friction is ensured.

A control system shown diagrammatically in the form of -a lever 12 controls the pivotal motion of the skirts about the two perpendicular axes containing respectively the pivots 8 and the pivots 10.

The platform is further equipped with a front orientable wheel 13 and a rear wheel 14 driven by an engine 17, for providing positive (friction) guidance and propulsion in a manner well known in the motorcycle art. The wheels are linked to the platform 1 by arms 15, 16 provided with suspension elements 18 and 19 designed to support only 10 to 20% of the total weight of the vehicle, the major part of the weight being supported by the gaseous cushions. The suspension elements may be adapted to permit stiffness adjustment, as shown for instance in Brueder 2,757,376.

l Valves 20 enable the compressed gas supplied by the gas generating engine 5 to be distributed as desired to the various cushions.

After the engine 5 has been started up, the platform 1 rises on its air cushions and may be piloted by movement of the control lever 12 which orientates the skirts 2. Accelerations obtained thereby, however, must be kept to ya low value in order to avoid diminishing the lifting efficiency, and such acceleration will therefore be suited to translational motion and to low speed maneuvering.

As a part of the weight of the vehicle is supported by the wheels 13, 14, the propulsion of said vehicle may be effected by means of the rear wheel and the accelerations and decelerations exceed those attained by aerodynamic means, with yet a good propulsive efficiency. The tandem lwheels will in fact ensure good stability when travelling on the ground, even at cruising speeds, if they support 10 to 20% of the weight and if the front wheel 13 is steerable as said hereinbefore. The wheels may be tted with tires having treads adapted to ensure A good traction with the ground.

The effects of the sideway forces due to the wind are thus reduced, and the corresponding tipping couple may be further counterbalanced by suitably operating the valves 20 in a differential manner.

Considering now FIGURE 3, the gaseous cushion device 2 positioned beneath platform 1 and supplied by means of a feed pipe 33, is formed of a plurality of juxtaposed cylindrical skirts 2a, 2b 2d.` The skirts preferably have stepped lengths and/or strengths (thicknesses), the longest and most supple skirt being advantageously on the outside.

A plain cylindrical skirt shape naturally makes it easier for an obstacle to enter than to emerge from a skirt, as the latter will easily fold back in the former case but will stretch after the fashion of a net in the latter case.

As will be seen from FIGURE 3, this difference in behavior of the skirt will in this case be attenuated, since the various skirts separate from one another as the obstacle emerges.

FIGURE 4 likewise shows a plurality of cylindrical concentric skirts 2e, 2f and 2g, which have in this case stepped diameters and leng-ths and which are supplied at stepped pressures, through pipes 33e, 337 and 33g between successive skirts. This -construction improves the stability of the vehicle over uneven ground and makes the passage of the skirts over obstacles easier.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, skirts are provided in large number and clustered together to increase platform stability, but this in turn implies a large total efflux or leakage perimeter. Therefore an encompassing peripheral skirt is used in conjunction with the clustered elemental skirts. Referring now to FIGURES 5 and 6, there is illustrated thereon a peripheral skirt 41 which is frusto-conical to some degree in side elevation and has a circular dual-lobe plan-form. Such a skirt may be supplied separately, through a supply pipe 33 at an adjustable pressure, ra-ther than only fed with the leakages from the inner elemental skirts 2 fed through supply pipes 33.

Adjustment of the relative heights of the skirts 2 and 41 allows selecting for the platform 1 either a high degree of stability (when the skirts 2 are relatively long with reference to the skirt 41), or great lifting efficiency (when the skirt 41 is relatively long with reference to the skirts 2).

FIGURE 7 illustrates a convenient form of skirt 2 which is adjustable in length. The sides of the skirt are formed in part at least by superposed annular air chambers or tubes 3S, the extension of which varies accordingly as the tubes are inflated or not. A simple inflating device is provided in the form of a three-way cock 39, whereby each air tube 38 may be connected through a flexible tube 4l) to a pipe supplying gas under pressure, for example to the compressed air pipe 33 upstream of the skirt 2, or to exhaust.

As may be seen from FIGURE 7, it is thus possible to provide a skirt which has a bottom conical portion and which is controlled pneumatically throughout. Alternatively, the air tubes 38 may be combined with mechanical hoist gears should it be desired to utilize the full difference in depth that may be obtained by entirely deflating the air tubes when the skirt is raised.

If reference be now had to FIGURE 8, in which is illustrated a platform provided with a peripheral skirt 41 and a plurality of such raisable elemental skirts 2, it will be appreciated that such a platform is capable of progressively negotiating very substantial differences in ground level, of the order, for example, of one-fifth of its over-all length. The provision of a multiplicity of elemental skirts ensures that the raising of any single skirt results in only a slight sinking of the whole vehicle. Were the difference in ground level to be negotiated in the opposite direction to that shown in FIGURE 8, simultaneous raising of all the skirts would enable the platform to be lowered before the change in level 48 were encountered. The size of the powerplant 49 and the pilots -cabin 50 provide some indication of scale.

An improvement which is applicable to platforms with multiple skirts consists in imparting different elasticity characteristics to the elemental skirts supporting such platforms. As will be readily understood, the geometrical size of each skirt, namely its height and diameter, and its volume in particular, together with its stiffness and the dimensions of its associated supply duct, all affect the instantaneous rate of leakage and determine a natural period of vertical oscillations of the corresponding air cushion. If all the skirts were identical, such vertical oscillations might give rise to resonance phenomena which may detrimentally affect overall platform sustention. On the other hand, if the elemental skirts be given different sizes, then the natural oscillation periods of the various air cushions will be different and the sustension will tend to be aperiodic.

Thus, in vehicles of this type, the lift and guidance functions may be fulfilled, either independently or jointly, by several different elements, such as wheels and air cushions. Such vehicles should extend both the field of application and the capabilities of the wheeled vehicles used heretofore, in particular over widely varying ground surfaces where deep mud, snow or sand may be encountered.

Obviously, the number of air cushions, compressed gas generators, ejectors and so on may be modified as required, and it will be well understood by those skilled in the art that various further changes and modifications may be made in the presently preferred embodiments of the ground effect platform hereinbefore disclosed, within the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A movable body of the ground effect type comprising a support frame spaced from a surface along which said body is designed to move, at least one inner fluidcushion bounding system tted t-o said support frame and projecting therefrom toward said surface, means on said support frame for supplying pressure fluid inside said inner fluid-cushion bounding system, a separate and distinct outer fluid-cushion -bounding system fitted peripherally to said support frame and projecting therefrom toward said surface, said outer system extending around and enveloping said inner system, whereby fluid leakages from said inner system feed the fluid-cushion bounded by said outer system, and further means on said support frame for supplying pressure fluid inside said outer fluidcushion bounding system.

2'. A movable body of the ground effect type comprising a support frame spaced from a surface along which said body is designed' to move, at least one inner fluidcushion bounding system fitted to said support frame and projecting therefrom toward said surface, means on said support frame for supplying pressure fluid-inside said inner fluid-cushion bounding system, and a separate and distinct outer fluid-cushion bounding system fitted peripherally to said support frame and projecting therefrom toward said surface, said outer system extending around land enveloping said inner system, whereby fluid leakages from said inner system feed the fluid-cushion bounded by said outer system, said inner and said outer fluid-cushion bounding systems comprising skirts made of supple, fluidtight material and adapted to be tensioned by internal over-pressure, said skirts being arranged inside one another and having increasing lengths from inside to outside.

3. A movable body of the ground effect type comprising a support frame spaced from a surface along which said body is designed to move, at least one inner fluidcushion bounding system fitted t-o said support frame and projecting therefrom toward said surface, means on said support frame for supplying pressure fluid inside said inner fluid-cushion bounding system, a separate and distinct outer fluid-cushion 'bounding system fitted peripherally to said support frame and projecting therefrom toward said surface, said outer system extending around and enveloping said inner system, whereby fluid leakages from said inner system feed the fluid-cushion bounded by said outer system, and further means on said support frame for supplying pressure fluid inside said outer fluidcushion bounding system, said inner and said outer fluidcushion bounding systems comprising skirts made of supple, lluidtight material and adapted to be tensioned by internal over-pressure, said skirts being arranged inside one another.

4. A ground effect machine designed to be rnovable along a surface and comprising: a plurality of separate inner pressure fluid cushion systems disposed alongside each other and each comprising a first closed end spaced from said bearing surface and defining endwise an inner cushion space, first wall means projecting from said first closed end toward said surface and defining sidewise said inner cushion space, said wall means forming a first partition separating said inner cushion space from an outer space extending outside said inner cushion space and said wall means further defining with said surface a first leakage gap connecting said inner cushion space with said outer space, and means for supplying said inner cushion space with pressure fluid which leaks out therefrom into said outer space through said leakage gap; and, an outer pressure liuid cushion system which comprises a second closed end connected with said first closed ends, spaced from said surface and defining endwise said outer space, and second wall means projecting from said second closed end toward said surface and extending around said first wall means, said first and second wall means defining therebetween said outer space and said second wall means forming a second partition enclosing said outer space and further defining with said surface a second leakage gap for said outer space, whereby said outer space extends in the path of said liuid leaking out from said inner cushion spaces.

5. Machine as claimed in claim 4, wherein said first wall means comprises respective skirts of supple, fluidtight material connected at one end thereof to the respective first closed end and ending at the other end thereof short of said surface, said other end defining the respective first leakage gap.

6. Machine as claimed in claim 5, wherein said other end is of substantially circular shape.

7. Machine as claimed in claim 5, wherein said first closed ends and said second closed end are substantially coextensive and form a rigid platform extending generally parallel to said surface and said skirts project from said platform.

8. Machine as claimed in claim 4, wherein said second wall means comprises a skirt of supple, fiuidtight material connected at one end thereof to said second closed end and ending at the other end thereof short of said surface, said other end defining said second leakage gap.

9. Machine as claimed in claim 8, wherein said first closed ends and second closed end are substantially coextensive and form a rigid platform extending generally parallel to said surface and said skirt extends along a peripheral zone of said platform and projects therefrom.

10. Machine as claimed in claim 4, wherein a portion of said first and second `wall means extend adjacent to each other in a substantially cotangent manner.

l1. Machine as claimed in claim 4, wherein said first leakage gap is wider than said second leakage gap.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,938,590 5/'1960 Barnett 180-7 3,055,446 9/1962 Vaughen 1-80-7 3,116,897 1/1964 Theed.

3,124,209 3/1964 Flipse 180-7 3,203,498 8/1965 Cockerell 180-7 A. HARRY LEVY, Primary Examiner. 

4. A GROUND EFFECT MACHINE DESIGNED TO BE MOVABLE ALONG A SURFACE AND COMPRISING: A PLURALITY OF SEPARATE INNER PRESSURE FLUID CUSHION SYSTEMS DISPOSED ALONGSIDE EACH OTHER AND EACH COMPRISING A FIRST CLOSED END SPACED FROM SAID BEARING SURFACE AND DEFINING ENDWISE AN INNER CUSHION SPACE, FIRST WALL MEANS PROJECTING FROM SAID FIRST CLOSED END TOWARD SAID SURFACE AND DEFINING SIDEWISE SAID INNER CUSHION SPACE, SAID WALL MEANS FORMING A FIRST PARTITION SEPARATING SAID INNER CUSHION SPACE FROM AN OUTER SPACE EXTENDING OUTSIDE SAID INNER CUSHION SPACE AND SAID WALL MEANS FURTHER DEFINING WITH SAID SURFACE A FIRST LEAKAGE GAP CONNECTING SAID INNER CUSHION SPACE WITH SAID OUTER SPACE, AND MEANS FOR SUPPLYING SAID INNER CUSHION SPACE WITH PRESSURE FLUID WHICH LEAKS OUT THEREFROM INTO SAID OUTER SPACE THROUGH SAID LEADKAGE GAP; AND, AN OUTER PRESSURE FLUID CUSHION SYSTEM WHICH COMPRISES A SECOND CLOSED END CONNECTED WITH SAID FIRST CLOSED ENDS, SPACED FROM SAID SURFACE AND DEFINING ENDWISE SAID OUTER SPACE, AND SECOND WALL MEANS PROJECTING FROM SAID SECOND CLOSED END TOWARD SAID SURFACE AND EXTENDING AROUND SAID FIRST WALL MEANS, SAID FIRST AND SECOND WALL MEANS DEFINING THEREBETWEEN SAID OUTER SPACE AND SAID SECOND WALL MEANS FORMING A SECOND PARTITION ENCLOSING SAID OUTER SPACE AND FURTHER DEFINING WITH SAID SURFACE A SECOND LEAKAGE GAP FOR SAID OUTER SPACE, WHEREBY SAID OUTER SPACE EXTENDS IN THE PATH OF SAID FLUID LEAKING OUT FROM SAID INNER CUSHION SPACES. 